21st Century Rosicrucianism&
In Ictu OculiBeing a digital pamphlet from fratres
of theProvince of Greater London
Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia
June MMXX2nd Printing
TONY LLEWELLYN, IX°M.W. Frater Supreme Magus 2020
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ontents
Introduction 2Call to Action 5
21st Century Rosicrucianism 7In Ictu Oculi 18
Rosicrucian Salons 29
© SRIA 1867-2020Frontpiece image from Elias AshmoleTheatrum Chemicum Britannicum,1652
This pamphlet has been published by the Metropolitan Study Group of the Metropolitan College No. 1 of the Societas Rosicruciana In Anglia. The MSG is an open forum and we welcome all individuals, men and women, who are interested in exploring the deeper mysteries of Nature, Science and Truth.
We meet on the 3rd Saturday of the month, physically in Hampstead, London. All of our meetings can also be accessed virtually, and we host attendees from many countries.
If you would like to attend any future meetings, please contact our Suffragan and Director of Studies, Cheyne Towers: [email protected]
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ntroduction A hearty welcome from the Metropolitan Study Group and the new Province of Greater London, to all fratres of the SRIA, SRIS, SRIL, SRICF, international brethren and sorores of the Rose and Cross, Universal followers of Light, purveyors of Truth and seekers of spiritual Gold.
We have found ourselves at an unusual junction in the story of Man. The mundane world for most of the population has ground to a virtual halt, giving us the rare opportunity to contemplate ourselves, the book of Nature, and the Heavens above us. The Metropolitan Study Group has been looking at ways to broaden our communi-cations and relationships across the globe, and the idea to resurrect the concept of the Rosicrucian Manifestos, in this particular moment in history, seemed the perfect vehicle.
Before we delve into the main body of the pamphlet, let us re-acquaint ourselves with the message of the original manifestos, and how we can manifest that message in our daily lives.
In the early seventeenth century a new vision came into the world in Germany when a series of anonymous pamphlets were published.
These works claimed to be written by a secret society of Enlightened mystics called the Fraternity of the Rosy Cross.
This brotherhood of magical Christian alchemists stated that they had special knowledge that could bring about regeneration.
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Just as other alchemists transformed base metals into gold, the Rosicrucian brotherhood had powerful techniques that could lead the inner nature of man to reach its full potential. For them, inner transformation lead to outer change, and their goals were very ambitious.
They were working in secret to reform European politics and religion. The first of the manifestos, the Fama Fraternitatis Rosae Crucis, told the tale of a figure called C.R. who, two hundred years earlier had learned of mystic arts from the Orient.
Having returned to Europe he formed a brotherhood to share his new knowledge.
Soon afterwards a second manifesto, Confessio Fraternitatis, appeared which explained the purpose and intentions of the Brotherhood and invited others to join them in order to learn the methods of Enlightenment and evolution.
In 1616, a third work came to print, The Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenk-reutz, which told an encoded dramatic allegorical tale of one man’s journey in the Rosicrucian path.
The Rosicrusian teaching called for a “universal reformation of mankind” and it was clear that the Brotherhood felt that the next step for the human race was to bring Spirituality and Science together as one, just as in an evolved soul the heart and mind function in unity.
The Rose, a symbol of nature, formed in the shape of a circle was pinned to the man-made squared cross. Just as the Sun and Moon was to be joined in alchemy to make gold. So too in the harmony of opposites the Rosicrucian would allow the practitioner to return to the perfection that they once had in the Garden of Eden. As the practitioner mastered this process the outer world would start to transform in reflection, Heaven would start to manifest on earth.
The directness of this message and the openness of the Rosicrucian manifestos created somewhat of a panic as people’s inner fears and prejudices lead to some wildly varying interpretations of this goal.
In truth, the message was one of peace, healing and harmony. The brothers of the order were healers with a focus on bringing goodness on all levels, at a time when actual Alchemists physical experimentation was already taking place and medicines were being produced.
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The skilled practitioner believed that their own state of mind and spiritual condition was an integral part of the success of their experiments. They knew that Science and progress could not be separated from those who undertook it. “No vacuum exists in Nature” the Brothers of the Rosy Cross would say. This was their way of stating that they knew that all things were connected and viewing life another way would lead to confusion and imbalance.
In a modern world when divided thinking and confused selfish intentions cause so much harm, disputing and hurting people, and destroying Nature to the degree that our very life on earth is at risk, the message of the Rosicrucians is more important than ever.
The time has come however for the next step, to embody these teachings. May your words, thoughts, and actions, be your own living manifesto.
We hope you enjoy this pamphlet, the first of many, and look forward to getting to know you better as we cross the threshold of this new chapter.
If you have any questions, ideas or contributions, please feel free to contact us on:
Frater Martin FaulksProvincial Director of Communications, Province of Greater [email protected]
Frater Alexander RofailaChief Adept, Province of Greater [email protected]
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all to Action
Dear Friends,
We are reaching out to you all at this most crucial time in human history, in the Spirit of Love and Unity.
We recognise the many groups of people around the world who are, in their own unique ways, working tirelessly to address the many problems caused by humanity’s abuse of the Natural World.
Some of these groups are working to protect natural habitats, others to end the suffering and abuse of the Animal Kingdom, many are involved in animal conservation, while others are focusing their energies toward the re-education of Humanity.
We also recognise the many religious organisations, indigenous elders and spiritual Orders who work silently in the background, utilising the power of prayer and focused intention to radiate a positive transformational influence into the world from within their various sacred temples.
We reach out to you all now with the following message...
Humanity has recently been hushed as never before in our history, and as a consequence of this, if we but listen, the Spirit of the Natural World is speaking to us all now, with great urgency.
She speaks to us all of this vital and profound Truth...
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All forms of Life on Earth are sacred.
Every living creature is a Spiritual Being, incarnate in its own unique form.
Humanity is NOT separate from the Natural World, it is but one part of a Greater Being.
Humanity must consciously reconnect with and accept the Spiritual Sanctity of all Life, and in particular the Spirit of the Animal Kingdom.
THE TIME IS NOW.
This Midsummer Solstice on the 21st of June 2020, a unique celestial event will take place. This event is a solar eclipse which will align precisely with the galactic equator, at the point where it crosses the ecliptic of the Zodiac. This Grand Alignment will reach its’ peak at 7:40am British Summer Time.
We warmly invite you all to mark this unique cosmological alignment, by joining together in collective prayer and meditation at precisely 7:40am BST, so that we may unite as One Spiritual Consciousness.
Then, with humility and in service to Universal Love...let us create an unbroken Circle with the following focussed intent:
“We open ourselves now...and reach out to reconnect with the Spirit of the Animal Kingdom...in humble recognition of the Sanctity of all Life.”
Then my dear Sisters and Brothers, let us release this focussed intent with Love, sending it up and out from within our respective sacred Temples and into the world.
In Harmony and Peace, let us accomplish this together.
Frater Cheyne TowersSuffragan, Province of Greater London
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21st Century RosicrucianismWhat does it mean to be a Rosicrucian in the year 2020? We are now 400 years on from the publication of the pamphlets that birthed the Rosicrucianism movement and our activity in orders such as the SRIA and many others requires a reconsider-ation of the context in which Rosicrucianism now operates and its relevance to the world today. We need to consider the modern context for Rosicrucianism in light of its original purpose, while also providing guidance on how individuals can incorporate our teachings into their daily lives.
Combining multiple strands of esoteric thinking with the politics of post-Ref-ormation Europe and the complex relationship to the Papacy, Rosicrucianism burst into European consciousness and spread a message of Universal Christi-anity, based upon ancient traditions and personal revelations of God, that was revolutionary and radical. It brought alchemy and other occult sciences into the limelight, with a boom in literature following the release of the pamphlets that influenced the religious landscape of the West and provided a progressive vision for society at the time.
Rosicrucianism can be seen throughout the 18th century among the detailed development of ceremonial magick, alchemy and other hermetic sciences encap-sulated by the likes of Pasqually, Saint Martin and Cagliostro and championing the Universal Christianity and missions of restoration found in the manifestos. It is a time in which Freemasonry is flourishing with a huge amount of creative output and new degrees, particularly in France and Germany; a time in which Jean-Baptiste Willermoz formulates the modern Rose-Croix degree, influenced heavily by German Rosicrucianism and the Rite of Strict Observance. Influence can also be found in the colonies of the Caribbean (Pasqually spent the last years of his life in what is now Haiti), on the backs of the esotericism of French Masonry that breaks through into North America at the end of the 18th century.
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Alongside this boom in esoteric and fraternal orders, however, it is also a time in which the science of chemistry is rapidly advancing and so the public perception of alchemy becomes degraded and increasingly mocked; though matched by a strengthening of the esoteric understanding of alchemical work and its position as a symbolic language of metaphysics and the human soul. Occult practice and mystical theology flourish, walking a path between the institutional Christian and scientific realms of mainstream society, and the influence of occultism during the time of the French Revolution creates a huge amount of activity in a wide variety of directions. Many of the offshoots that arise are heavily influenced by Rosicrucianism and its combination of Christianity with ancient and universal understandings of our relationship to the divine.
The 19th century saw much further progress in connecting Rosicrucianism with its ancient and medieval counterparts. Scholarly understanding of ancient society and their religious traditions developed, combined with a boom in comparative religion as an area of study and social science. It is here that we see the emergence of the SRIA and its counterparts, as well as the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, the Rosicrucian Fraternity of Pascal Beverly Randolph, and other culturally significant public expressions such as the series of Salon de la Rose Croix hosted by Peladan. This culminates in the works of Papus, Guenon, Eliphas Levi, Blavatsky, A.E. Waite and plenty more that close the 19th century with new translations of texts into English, detailed histories and dissemination of textual evidence, and anecdotes of exotic practices and experiences (some fictional) that allowed for different strands of occult traditions to spread quickly and take on new forms.
This textual and organisational boom laid the groundwork for the 20th century and brought Rosicrucianism once again into the public eye; with a fervour that matched the excitement of the original manifestos, but now fully accessible to any who wished to engage with the orders touting connection to this illustrious tradition. This had its clearest example in the Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis (AMORC), which had its beginnings around 1915 and saw rapid growth, as well as Rudolf Steiner’s Rosicrucian Fellowship, but also through the popu-larity of other less public and commercial esoteric orders such as the various offshoots of the Golden Dawn – most of which took on a Rosicrucian character, removing the pseudo-Egyptian influence – and the continued centrality of the Ancient & Accepted Rite’s 18th Degree in the landscape of modern Freemasonry. The magickal revival and counterculture of the 1960s and 70s meant that Rosi-crucianism became an ongoing fixture throughout the 20th century. Anybody who was interested in generalised forms of spirituality and the New Age movement
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would have come into contact with Rosicrucian symbolism and mysticism with its heavy influence on Western esotericism. The approach seen here was unashamedly on personal development and attainment; which met both a liber-ating need as a counterweight to stifling conservatism, but also encouraged some of the excesses of ego seen in the formation of the consumerist mindset and occult symbolism as a fashion statement. Thankfully, the end of the 20th century saw a return to the levels of publication of authentic texts and advanced treatises seen a century earlier; even though in the wider culture the true purpose of such thought had once again gone primarily underground, albeit available in specialist bookstores worldwide.
I put forward this far too basic overview of Rosicrucian history to show two things: first, that Rosicrucianism has been part of the backbone of Western esotericism for almost half a millennium; and, secondly, that it has always had a central role in how this undercurrent of thinking and practice emerges peri-odically into public consciousness. Through periods of extension and retrac-tion, dilution and concentration in almost equal measure, new directions and responses to transformative events in global consciousness have emerged out of the Rosicrucian tradition. It is not alone in doing this, of course, but we should see our tradition as part of the formative elements of Western society and how it creates and adapts to shifting contexts through radical and visionary thinking; even if it sometimes succumbs to the materialism and commercial drives that surround us in the modern world.
In this way, the first 20 years of this century has seen a fall back of Rosicru-cianism in public consciousness, but an extension of understanding its role in the psycho-spiritual development of the West and increased attention from academics and other scholars of esoteric history and thought. The huge boom of hyper-commercialised spirituality has devolved into watered-down aphorisms and New Age-lite mindfulness, alongside a weaponised form of evangelical Chris-tianity; but a more serious return to detailed esoteric understandings has become increasingly accessible to those who seek it and is starting to take greater root. 21st century esotericism has overcome many of the more commercial pitfalls of the late-20th century, as well as the boom of internet orders claiming their own eminence amongst digital cult-like structures, and there is now a landscape of original thought and development in these areas that could be seen as a new revival in advanced magickal practice and mystical thinking.
It’s important to note at this stage that Rosicrucianism at its core has never really been about magickal practice (for the most part) and so the more mystical
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Christian approach taken by the tradition has found itself better established in the 21st century in the more devoted corners of esoteric communities around the world. The centrality of INRI has been restored, aligned with a continued societal move away from institutional forms of Christianity towards deeper and more personal mystical understandings of the Christ Within.
Although the limelight might not be on Rosicrucianism as much today as in the recent or distant past, it still reigns supreme in many ways; harking back to the importance of the manifestos in reviving esotericism throughout Europe and the straddling of Exoteric and Esoteric spheres that it has long been situated between. Even though the search to join an Invisible College of the Elect is no longer really in the public consciousness (replaced, perhaps, with a more direct neo-paganism and Gardnerian witchcraft) the various orders and groups that have inherited the Rosicrucian mantle seem to be entering a new phase of serious endeavour that upholds the legacy of the tradition and its influential nature.
The retraction of the more commercial elements that had come to dominate 20th century Rosicrucianism has provided a great opportunity to redefine and reorient our traditions towards the pressing needs of the 21st century that is already well underway. The purpose of Rosicrucianism today has therefore changed somewhat from what it was aiming to achieve in the past. However, there are still clear connections to the impetus behind the initial pamphlets and the esoteric movement they represented. When thinking about the role of Rosicrucianism in the 21st century, we must start by recognising that it isn’t just about personal, individual transformation (although many of the practices that feed into it will achieve this with great effect) but it seeks a wider impact on the direction of society as a whole. Achieving this is incredibly difficult, but ulti-mately a more fulfilling destiny to pursue and one we should collectively strive to bring to fruition. So, if Rosicrucianism was trying to provide a context for Universal Christianity, rooted in the esoteric traditions of the past and free from oppressive power struc-tures, what context do we find ourselves in today of equal importance and similar metaphysical distress?
The context we find ourselves in today is one in which the entire basis of the human condition and its evolution is shifting into a new phase of existence and agency. We are now at a turning point in human evolution in which our tech-nology and scientific endeavours will soon be able to direct the path of our future biological and intellectual forms. This covers everything from alterations to our
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genetics, extension of life-spans, adjustments to biochemistry and enhance-ments to our physical capabilities, through to neural implants that connect us to artificial intelligence and the library of human knowledge in a synthesis with technology previously only dreamed of. If it was Free Will that marked a test of faith in millennia past, we haven’t seen anything yet! In many ways, we are approaching the heights of occult transformation and the promises of alchemy in its most physical manner: immortality, omniscience and the power to change shape and form.
This turning point should not be underestimated or merely seen as steady progress towards an unknown future. Rather, it requires a mature and highly developed spiritual component in order to understand the metaphysical, philo-sophical and emotional gravity of what is occurring around us and what we are increasingly accepting will happen to and within ourselves. As has long been understood, but perhaps not quite in this way, our current physical forms are not the final and only kind of existence that we will inhabit. At this point in human history and evolution we can see the changes that are about to take place and the practical roadmap is starting to be laid out. However, we need to recognise that it is currently one that is primarily dictated by international power structures - whether they be government or corporate - without much consultation, or even seemingly any forethought as to the likely endpoints.
Rosicrucianism is particularly suited to addressing this, as it has done so many times in the past, and challenge the norms of potentially oppressive power struc-tures; as it is primarily concerned with the meeting point between personal agency, collective responsibility and the role of the divine in all things. The connection to early scientific endeavour gives us a reason to consider and fully incorporate the scientific landscape of today and how we address our role in the cosmos. The balance between scientific and religious pursuits leads us to see that all human progress and so-called advancement has an impact on our meta-physical destiny, as the thought forms that emerge from our capacity to co-create reality have an increasing impact on the material world. Not just in how we forge and combine different elements outside of ourselves, but how we are now able to influence and even completely change the make-up and construction of our own physical, emotional and intellectual forms. This kind of responsibility has never been in the hands of humanity in such an immediate and powerful way; and it will rapidly change everything that is to come in the future.
Rosicrucianism, with its emphasis on esoteric science, medicine and our journey through life and death, needs to speak directly into this context of 21st
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century transhumanism. We should act assertively and brazenly, although often anonymously as before, to ensure that we undermine and counteract the more corrupting of vested interests. Uplifting the kinds of transformative streams of grace, compassion and beauty that only a conscious connection to the divine can truly manifest.
The other, closely related, context that we find ourselves in revolves around the rapid growth of public communications and propaganda of all kinds. This has formed an all-encompassing influence on our perception of reality and how we construct personal and shared identity. I have discussed this in more detail in my paper On the Transformation of Glamour but, to put it briefly, we find ourselves in an era in which truth is almost entirely eroded in the public sphere – and even our personal lives – as we construct illusory identities and present them to one another aggressively as fact. Truth is an important yardstick by which to measure Rosicrucian success, connected closely to the notion of Light that we are guided by, and is part of the spiritual underpinnings of the source of our shared inspi-ration. Seeing ourselves, therefore, as champions and guardians of Truth in a digital, post-truth age is an important and necessary role for Rosicrucianism in the 21st century.
This isn’t without its dangers, as it is far too easy to mistake personal opinion and desire for Truth. So we need to hold ourselves up to scrutiny and develop a deeper understanding of how opinion is formed in order to find ways to assist humanity in seeing through the fog of advertising, propaganda and hierarchical influence that subverts our creative ability and agency on a daily basis.
Becoming a champion of Truth certainly starts with the timeless advice to ‘Know Thyself’ and so it can be seen that the Rosicrucian teachings train us to do exactly this. They provide guidance so that we might understand the philo-sophical, emotional and metaphysical influences that create the experience of consciousness we label ‘I’ and recognise that it is through this focal point of ego and material form that we can assist in spreading God’s Will and Love to all those we come into contact with.
Understanding and embodying this allows the Adept to then seek a more active role in the wider world, to help direct the course of influencing factors and act against those which seek (whether consciously or not) to undermine humanity and our relationship with God. The novice learns and the adept teaches; and this applies when considering the glamours that surround us as it does for any other aspect of the Rosicrucian path.
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In the context of the 21st century, this needs to incorporate a view of the global communications and influence networks that we are all participating in. Acting as agents of Light and consciously struggling against the corrupting darkness that threatens to distract us from the inspiring spark of the Christ Within. Endeav-ouring to do so fulfils the obligation to ‘heal the sick, and that gratis’; as it is the dissolution and subversion of Truth, and therefore trust, peace and compassion, between us that is perhaps the greatest sickness we are facing today.
If this, then, is the context of 21st century Rosicrucianism, at least in part, and the role we might have in the modern world; how do we actually go about doing it? What practical steps can be taken and how do we know when they are working? This is a deeply personal question, with many different answers, but I’m going to briefly consider a simple overarching concept to try and give some structure that can then be tailored to each individual’s place and means. The most important thing to consider is that your identity as a Rosicrucian should be completely integrated into your life. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to go shouting it from the rooftops (or putting it on your social media profiles). It does mean, however, that you shouldn’t see the spiritual side of your life as a switch that can be turned off and on when most convenient to you. It is far too common to see people completely isolate this part of their life and identity from their family and professional career. In reality, it isn’t possible to detach our spiritual, physical and emotional selves and so we need to be cautious of times in which we seem to be attempting to do this.
What we are doing when we compartmentalise our spiritual practice (or percep-tion of ourselves as spiritual beings) into something that only occurs during specific rituals, ceremonies or special meetings is that we are accepting the illusion that our material selves take priority over the spiritual component of our being. That the routine of our daily life can only spare brief moments of spiritual nourishment. When it comes to those closest to us and our family, it can also have the effect of drawing us further away from some of the primary sources of love and compassion in our lives. Rather than embracing these connections as pure and sacred expressions of the divine, we might see them as burdensome or frustrating; even to the point of using our involvement with Rosicrucianism or other forms of religious and spiritual activity as a form of escapism that is deeply detrimental to both ourselves and those closest to us.
The ultimate goal of the Rosicrucian is not just to be reminded that we are eternal, metaphysical beings from time to time. It is to live and experience our
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role as divine agents as an all-encompassing vocation that informs and guides everything that we do.
Rosicrucianism is not something that exists apart from the rest of our identity and path through life; it is the path through life and must therefore act as a foundation for everything else, even though it might be one that acts subtly and quietly rather than overtly and evangelically. Genuine evangelism comes through the works conducted in God’s name that transform and overcome, not through words that seek to convince or comfort. When one acts with the authenticity and dedication that true Rosicrucian vocation brings, others are impacted by this kindness and outpouring of love; they feel the guidance of the divine hand and themselves turn towards the source of Light that we are embodying in that specific moment. Healing the world, free of charge and without fanfare, is our sacred mission. Through outward acts of compassion that actively aim to engage the world without any expected result or return other than the purpose of healing itself, we act as unknown agents of Christ in conducting the transformative work of God. In order to solidify this kind of vocation in one’s life, I would suggest a cycle of progress that can help reconcile our modern lifestyles with the Rosicrucian path. This cycle has many different kinds of output and manifestation, but can be understood conceptually as the journey from Personal Practice; to Social Engage-ment; to Spiritual Retreat and then returning to conduct the cycle once again. Personal Practice is the conscious effort to embody the ever-present task of exploring the makeup of our being and how it relates to the world around us. By doing so, we find time to remove ourselves from the desires and motivations of daily life; conducting ourselves in a way that connects with God and reunites our physical agency with the eternal Christ Within. This takes many forms, but all share the purpose of opening ourselves to the divine; of hearing the still voice within and heeding its call.
It is also important for us to better understand those aspects of ourselves that require attention in order to be useful to a life in service to God. Self-discipline; humility; consistency; spiritual knowledge; concentration; all of these are enhanced by the methods of prayer, mystical and/or magickal practice that we engage in. They should also be developed in harmony with the inner circle of our own lives; our family, close friends and other loved ones whom we rely on for support and who, in turn, we must uplift in becoming the best versions of themselves. This does not mean that we can’t conduct ourselves privately, but we
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must always be aware of the impact that the journey we are taking is having on those closest to us; because in the end, their path and ours are intertwined.
It is from this wellspring of Personal Practice that we emerge into the second part of the cycle: Social Engagement. Here we learn that our own relationship to God is but one of an infinite number of expressions and channels, each one unique and important even though it is but a speck of sand in eternity. Our inward-looking practice and prayer now has an outward purpose; the devel-opment we have undertaken begins to help restore the fractures of a material world in need of repair. Importantly, it is also through social engagement that we learn to temper the arrogant excesses and delusions of religious life; which has a tendency to deceive as much as it does to lead people to the voice of Truth. By acting in service to humanity, we present ourselves with humility and seek to heal our own wounds alongside those we are working with. We place ourselves in a position to see things from the perspective of others, stripped of our own tightly controlled notion of identity. When our social engagement as Rosicru-cians is conducted successfully, we learn that the prophetic voice and hand of Providence that emerges from us is not our own. Rather it is a small outlet of the eternal stream that has found expression throughout all of human history, inspired by the Light of the Most High and directed by the Spirit of Truth towards the regeneration and salvation of all. If the Social Engagement that follows Personal Practice is the act of breathing out and sharing in God’s providence with others, then it is the act of Spiritual Retreat that provides the breath in and allows our inner spark to become inflamed with inspiration and visionary clarity. Social engagement has a deeply meaningful effect and is the true purpose of Rosicrucian endeavour; but just as it provides balance to the internal world of our own practice, it can also lead to becoming subsumed in the boundaries of society that often serve to restrict progress and stifle momentum in favour of that which is familiar and comfortable. Spiritual Retreat, which can take many forms from a single weekend through to months or even years, from silent monastic life to a simple hike through the woods, removes ourselves from the burdens and boundaries placed on us by modern life.
Personal Practice exists by necessity alongside our worldly obligations of family, work and community; but Spiritual Retreat strips all of this away and allows us to truly see what lies beneath the routine and patterns of day-to-day existence. It is here where the heights of religious and transcendental experience can be attained; whether experienced as soft light in a still valley, or as lightning strikes on Olympian mountaintops. It provides us with the radical shifts of perception
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and understanding that allow for the prophetic voice to emerge authentically and with enough magnetism to have an impact on the world. All while reinvigorating the philosophical and religious practice as a serious component that nourishes and directs our lives.
The breathing in and breathing out that this cycle of Rosicrucian progress brings – from private internal, to engaged social, to divine-focused – is analogous to the cosmological formulation of the tetragrammaton. Our participation in the Breath of Life then echoes the incarnation of Jesus Christ and the formation of the pentagrammaton (adding the Shin to YHShVH) through its manifestation in the material agency of intellect, emotion and will. In this cycle of inward/outward, personal/social, passive/active, we mirror the nature of God as both infinite and finite, transcendent and individual.
When repeated throughout one’s life this cycle ensures that we can maintain balance between the esoteric and exoteric pillars and their personal and communal manifestations. It continuously reminds us of humility while also requiring the discipline and confidence necessary for real progress. It inte-grates our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual aspects into one cohesive identity; focused on participating in the Will of God and allowing Providence to work through the agency of a well- trained and Truth-speaking ego. God’s Love and Light finds its magnificent expression in, of and through us, following the redemption of humanity with its divine creator through the incarnation and resurrection of Christ Within. 21st Century Rosicrucianism is not merely a personal pursuit that helps us overcome our own desires and insecurities; nor is it just a path of spiritual trans-formation for the individual to have an ecstatic experience of divine realms. Rosicrucianism has always been deeply connected with the spiritual destiny of Western society as a whole; particularly in those times where values of freedom, liberty, personal agency and social compassion are threatened. By taking these three categories (Personal Practice; Social Engagement; Spiritual Retreat) and ensuring that we fulfil them in our own lives, through whatever forms are available and resonate with us most strongly, we are continuing the Rosicrucian legacy.
Success means that we recognise that it is not just an exercise in historical re-en-actment that we are partaking in; but one of meaningful societal re-construction and prophetic re- creation that is required for humanity to continue on a path towards that which is eternally good.
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In our modern lives, the context of mass global communications and an ever more enmeshed planetary destiny means that we have a duty to destroy the illusions of corruption that surround us and speak out against them through whatever means we have available. This should always be done with the respect that comes from recognising that all people are born into dignity and co-create the world with the divine; but acknowledging that not all pursuits, desires or moti-vations should be seen as acceptable to a world that seeks to uphold the tenets of Life, Love, and Light. In order to act as healers of the collective illnesses of the modern human condition, we must conduct ourselves as guardians of Truth. We must truly understand our own selves and motivations, accepting our weak-nesses with the discipline to overcome them rather than a guilt that burdens us down to inaction; but we cannot become obsessed with self-exploration to the extent that we forget to engage with the world around us and have an impact on the form it will take in the future. We are living through a turning point in human evolution and social develop-ment that requires all those who are attuned to the hidden mysteries of nature, science and divine Providence to take responsibility for the collective destiny of humanity. Rosicrucianism in the 21st century, as it has done in centuries past, must play an active role in influencing the thought forms, practical applications and lived experiences that will create the boundaries of human existence for future generations.
By conducting ourselves with a seriousness that is open and compassionate, we accept the obligation of such an important and challenging task. We can then walk through the door to our collective future and confidently begin the next act of our cosmic destiny. Restoring that which was lost and emerging triumphant into a new phase of heavenly existence.
Frater Robert Gordon
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In Ictu OculiIn the Blink of an Eye
In Ictu Oculi was painted by Juan de Valdes Leal in 1670 and is one of a pair that hang in the Hospital de la Caridad, Seville. The other is entitled Finis Gloria Mundi.
I am with you always, to the close of the age.Matthew 28 xx
Everything is relevant for the determination of the moment, not only the position of the planets and the stars, but every observable event in nature.
Al-Khemi, Andre VandenBroeck
Hail o cross, the only hope.The Mystery of the Cathedrals, Fulcanelli
This is my second paper entitled ‘In Ictu Oculi’. The first was delivered to the Metropolitan College Study Group of the SRIA on the 18th April 2020 and concerned my experience after becoming aware of the solar eclipse that will take place on the 21st June 2020.
The subject of this paper is my understanding of that experience. Both papers can be read independently of one another.
Beginnings When did we begin our journey, a journey that has brought me to this Society, others to similar societies, or indeed associations of men and women who share
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the same goal? Perhaps it was when we first sensed that the world we see is not the world that is. An unknowable Unity – the ‘Divine’, ‘God’ – was calling us.
Blessed are those who have not seen but have believed.
John 20 xxix
Men and women have sought to know that which is, since remotest antiquity and in each great civilisation the same gesture has been repeated. That is to wholly abstract the world we see by number, word, architecture, art, and music, for example, the tetractys, book, cathedral, ikon, and plainchant.
When what is sensed is wholly abstracted it becomes a living metaphor whose language and meaning exactly corresponds to every part of the human body. We can then begin to see with our heart, gradually at first, that which is, the divine functional cause of the effects that we sense.
The eclipse that I will discuss, together with my experience of its meaning, are both effects and are exoteric. They share the same cause which is esoteric and that is the true subject of this paper.
Beginning
For me, the beginning of the path that I have followed is marked by many dates, one of which is the 11th May 1984 when I began a journal of my dreams, practises, and observations. One of my earliest entries was of an extraordinarily numinous dream which culminated in the disclosure of a name and number: Lincoln 1811.
Later in that year I experienced a second dream of elaborate symbolism and power. While writing that dream up in my journal, I noticed a startling synchronicity – that the second dream had occurred on the night of the 18th November 1984: 18/11/84.
Some 22 years later on the 27th October 2006, I was stopped on a street in London by an individual who revealed to me the name and image of his guru and asked a few simple questions before passing to me a small piece of paper on which was written: L/45/18.11.
An Eclipse
Because solar eclipses occur due to the movement of the Moon in orbit around the Earth, and that of the Earth around the Sun, they are predictable and occur
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in specific, periodic sequences. The term given for each predictable sequence is a Solar Saros Cycle and each cycle is given a number.
The eclipse that will occur on the 21st June 2020 is the 28th eclipse of the 137 Solar Saros Cycle. The time between each eclipse in a Saros Cycle is 18 years and 11 days.
In looking in more detail at the 137 Solar Saros Cycle I also quickly identified that the solar eclipse that took place on the 30th May 1984 was the 26th of the Solar Saros 137 Cycle. It seemed to me inescapable that this synchronicity pointed to something meaningful.
First Stirrings
The eclipse of the Sun on the summer solstice is not unusual but what is on the 21st June 2020, is:
• The position of the sun at the centre of the cross formed by the Galactic Equator and Galactic Axis.
• The Galactic Axis will be at 90 degrees to the Galactic Equator and be aligned with the horizon forming a double horizon.
• The eclipse will align with the pyramidion at the apex of the Great Pyramid and with the heel stone at Stonehenge.
The geometry of the eclipse is presented in the YouTube link below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKHyNzzCY70
A Cross
As I thought about the eclipse my attention was drawn to the commentary on a memorial cross at Hendaye which forms part of the 1957 edition of Fulcanel-li’s book The Mystery of the Cathedrals, which is fully described in the following YouTube link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mn4qW9Gyg8Q
A Digression: Fulcanelli
Despite the publication of his first work in 1925 and the death of his pupil and literary executor, Eugene Canseliet, in 1982, Fulcanelli’s identity, concealed behind the nomen mysticum, has never been fully resolved. This was due partly
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to a traditional adherence to secrecy, but also to an understanding that by creating a mythical figure who personified the symbolic language and artistry of the literary text, its power would remain volatile and energetic, not fixed and inert.
I support the view that Fulcanelli was a composite of three men. The literary work came from ideas and drafts prepared by Rene Schwaller de Lubicz, words from Jean–Julien Champagne and Pierre Dujols, and pictures from Jean-Julien Champagne. Canseliet, who had been a pupil of Champagne’s since he was sixteen years old, received the texts indirectly and then arranged their publication.
But Fulcanelli was no mere souffler, a dilettante concerned more with etiquette than diplomacy. Champagne and de Lubicz worked together for 19 years on an alchemical problem whose successful outcome was possibly one of the greatest achievements of 20th Century laboratory alchemy. What they worked on and what they achieved is not fully known. A condition of their relationship, one that de Lubicz set at the outset, was that their work should be conducted in complete secrecy, at its end the two adepts would never meet again, and that all notes and papers would be destroyed.
What is known is that the experiment was described by them as the fabrication of the blue and red glass of Chartres Cathedral. This was a metaphor for the fixing of the metallic spirit into a matrix of glass.
Back to Our Monument
The chapter concerning the ‘Cyclic Cross of Hendaye’ was not part of the first edition of The Mystery of the Cathedrals published in 1925, nor in the Fulcanelli’s second work Dwellings of the Philosophers published in 1929. Eugene Canseliet referred to the manuscript of a third book, Finis Gloria Mundi, as being incom-plete, but one part, the ‘Cyclic Cross of Hendaye’ was added to the second edition of The Mystery of the Cathedrals, published in 1957.
The text itself concerns the analysis of an otherwise insignificant church monument situated in the village of Hendaye at the extreme south west of France on the Spanish/French border. On the front of the cross is inscribed INRI, which in this case is to be read as Igne Natura Renovatur Integra – By Fire Nature is Renewed Whole. On the obverse side is a latin inscription that has defied straightforward translation, but the author
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suggests should be read as ‘It is written that life itself takes refuge in a single space’.
The base on which the column is set has carved on its four faces a sun (west), a crescent moon (north), an eight-pointed star (east), and an oval form divided into four quadrants each containing an alpha (south). The star is on the face beneath the front of the cross and the sun on the obverse side. The author largely ignores the first three carvings and concentrates on the fourth which he presents as symbolising the four cosmic ages, of which the last, that of Kali Yuga, the age of misery, misfortune, and decrepitude is our own age.
A Pedestal of Surprises
As the practitioners of our art often use the technique of misdirection, I thought that I would begin with an examination of that part of the Cross at Hendaye which attracts little comment from the author.
Of the four carvings on the pedestal of the column, three, the sun, moon, and star are barely referred to. The star is aligned with the front of the cross. It is of distinctive design with quite attenuated rays four of which are longer, and four shorter. It was relatively straightforward to identify the generic name for this form of the star, it is the Star of Inanna, or more commonly the Star of Ishtar.
If that was not surprising enough, a brief review of the iconography of Ishtar, who was the Mesopotamian mother goddess, established that on royal insignia and boundary stones her symbol was shown together with a crescent moon, and a rayed solar disc. The crescent moon was the symbol of Sin, god of the moon, and the rayed solar disc of Shamash, the god of the sun.
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The god Sin was regarded as the lord of wisdom and an expression of the science of astronomy and practice of astrology. He was the father of Ishtar and Shamash. Shamash was the enforcer of divine justice, morality, and truth.
Those three carvings on the faces of the pedestal appear then to represent a trinity of father, son, and daughter; wisdom, strength, and beauty; God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. A further observation I should make is that this explanation would place the divine mother beneath the front of the cross and at its foot. We should recall that Mary, the mother of our Saviour stood at the foot of the Cross at His Crucifixion. Stabat Mater Dolorosa. She was not alone. With her stood St John the Evangelist into whose care Our Lord entrusted his mother. His presence hints at the divine nature of Christ, his resurrection and ascension.
A Succession of AgesLet us for the moment move on to the fourth and most enigmatic carving on the south face, that of the quartered oval with an ‘A’ in each segment. The author regards the symbol as representing heaven and earth with the four Alphas the successive ages through which we pass. He does set this in the context of the of the four Evangelists, beasts of Ezekiel, of the Revelation, and finally of the Veda’s.
The repetition should lead us to look more closely at the symbols of the four evangelists which derive from the vision recorded in the book of Ezekiel and anticipate the revelation to St John of Patmos.
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St Matthew, the author of the first gospel account is symbolized by the winged man, or angel. It signifies reason and divine science as the path to salvation.
St Mark is symbolised by the winged lion, a figure of courage and monarchy. It represents Christ as King.
St Luke is symbolised by the winged bull or ox- a figure of sacrifice, service, and strength. It represents Our Lord’s sacrifice in His Passion and Crucifixion as well as High Priest of the Order of Melchizedek.
St John is symbolised by the eagle which was believed to gaze directly at the sun. It represents Christs Ascension and His Divine nature.
The four symbols were often carved into the Tympanum above the main doors leading into the Cathedral, and surrounded Christ seated within the divine almond.
This further illuminates this strange symbol at the foot of the Cross of Hendaye, as the circle is clearly the almond, the equal armed cross, Christ, and the Alpha’s in each of the four segments the evangelists.
Thus, rather than four images of progressive decay from innocence to decrepi-tude, the symbol shows the cycle of incarnation, monarchy, death, and ascension.
The feast of the Ascension will be commemorated by the Western churches between the 21st and 24th May 2020.
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Sterculius
In the final paragraphs of the chapter our author speaks of the:
‘closing of the fourth age, the age of iron whose seal is death, hieroglyph the skeleton, bearing the attributes of Saturn: the empty hourglass, symbol of time run out, and the scythe, reproduced in the number 7, which is the number of
transformation, of destruction, and of annihilation.’
From the imagery of the evangelists we know that death is followed by ascension- the form decays and the volatile rises from that which was fixed.
Saturn is much more than the aged dotard whose time is at an end. As father of Jupiter he was king of the gods before his overthrow. He had lordship over creation and destruction. His scythe represents the abundance of the harvest as well as the weapon he wielded against his own father. He had a subsidiary name of Sterculius, deriving from dung or manure referring to the emergence of life from death. He rises as the hero in the cloak of red. He is present at each moment when the fixed matter decays and the volatile is liberated; and when the volatile is fixed into evolved form. The colour that corresponds to Saturn is indigo, the colour that is present at the death and rebirth of our matter and so signifies the descent of the spirit, the entry of the monarch into the holy city.
Light in the Sky
The solar eclipse that has inspired this paper is not the only astronomical event happening in the next few months. Comet 2019 Y4, named comet Atlas, was discovered on the 28th December 2019 situated in the constellation of Ursa Major, as viewed from Earth. It will reach it closest point to the Earth on the 23rd May, and to the Sun on the 31st May. The comet therefore appeared immediately after the feast day of St John the Evangelist and will be at its closest about the time of the feast of the Ascension.
I will briefly consider the significance of the path of the comet through the constellations of Ursa Major, Perseus, and Taurus. The demi-goddess Callisto vowed to remain a virgin but was seduced by Jupiter and a son, Arcas was conceived. Juno in a jealous rage transformed Callisto into a bear and she was eventually exalted by Jupiter into the heavens as the constellation Ursus Major. The constellation consists of seven stars. It both indicates and rotates around the Pole Star from which its Greco-Roman name of Helike, the turning, is derived.
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Fulcanelli writes of Perseus but makes a curious ‘mistake’ by linking him to Ariadne. Ariadne was the daughter of King Minos of Crete who provided Theseus with a red thread by which he could retrace his route out of the labyrinth. Theseus, who had promised to marry her, abandons her to her fate only for Dionysus to fall in love with her, take her as his bride and crown her with a wreath of stars, the Corona Borealis. The constellation of Taurus is unique as it is the only constellation crossed by the galactic equator, celestial equator, and the sun’s ecliptic. As the Bull of Heaven, Taurus was associated with Ishtar in her avenging and destructive aspect.
So, the three constellations reveal the symbolism relative to the current moment, Callisto- the Virgin Mother, Ariadne- Wife of the Dead and Risen God, and Ishtar-Queen of Heaven. The feminine aspect of our three stages. The Virgin Mother who personifies the prima materia, the Wife of the Dead and Risen God symbol-ises the chemical wedding of Mercury and Sulphur, and as Queen of Heaven she is the Morning Star.
Paris-the City of the Mother and Star
One final text drew me back to Paris whose Cathedral is the origin of Fulcanel-li’s work. It was in the Cathedral of Notre Dame that King Louis XIII dedicated France, his Crown, and Dynasty to the Mother of God. If she is there, where is the star?
The Square of the Star, now known as Place Charles de Gaulle, has as its centre the Arc de Triomphe or to give its name in full, the Triumphal Arch of the Star. From that centre radiate 12 avenues and roads from which its original name as the Square of the twelve-pointed Star derives.
Of Effects and Causes
Dramatic though the eclipse is, it is an effect. Unexpected though my direction towards Hendaye and Paris was, it is also an effect. Both effects have a common cause but what is that divine functional principle?
21st June 2020
The number of the Solar Saros cycle of which the 21st June 2020 is part is 137. 137 is the number of the Hebrew letters forming the word ‘Kabbalah’ the text and words of Tradition. Tradition is the unchanging and eternal truth concealed behind the many historical forms - number, word, architecture, art, and music.
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Only when the sun is concealed by the disc of the moon can we gaze directly at the glory of the Son of the Sun. All turns on this moment – the Helike – the rotation of the entire galaxy.
What Do We See?In the celestial sphere, upon the terrestrial globe, and within ourselves are the divine feminine, a star of destiny, and a cross:
• In the sky. The Galactic Equator and Axis form a Greek Cross. In conjunction is the morning star whose meaning is the Mother of God, Queen of Heaven, the Mystic Rose. The rose and cross. The star that moves through the heavens, the comet, announces the child in whom we are reborn.
• At Hendaye. The Cross of Calvary, symbol of the passion at whose foot Mary witnesses the death and rising of her Son, and with St John will anticipate his ascension.
• In Paris. The Cathedral of Notre Dame, built on a foundation of a Temple of Isis, dedicated to the Mother of God, gazes towards the Square of the Star whose twelve points represent the twelve macro-cosmic principles – on earth as it is in heaven.
• At Giza. Horus is born of Isis and rises to greet the morning sun.
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The Queen of HeavenA light has been building in the heavens since the feast of the Evangelist and will glow as a comet, a bright star as it passes through Ursa Major, Perseus, and Tau-rus. Behind these visible constellations are the triune form of the mother, wife, and widow of the sun hero. The Queen of Heaven is witnessing the return of the bright star on its heavenly journey.
The Star The star signals that the spirit has descended into the form.
‘It is the miracle of the world, the assembly of superior virtues and inferior ones. That is why the Almighty has marked it with an extraordinary sign. The wise men saw it in the east, were struck with amazement and knew at once that a king most pure had been born into the world. As soon as you see his star follow
it to its crucible and you will see the Son of the Sun.’Philalethes
The Greek Cross The cross is the alchemical hieroglyph of the crucible as the word crucible de-rives from the vulgate latin crucis. It is in the crucible that the prima materia suffers its Passion, like Christ himself. It is in the crucible that it dies to be re-vived, purified, spiritualised, and transformed into the materia prime, the bright burning philosophic gold.
The Divine CauseGenesisThe solar eclipse on the 21st June 2020 is a cosmic moment when all of us who seek the unknowable Unity, are occulted. All is in alignment for us to follow our heart and practice our art that we may emerge from the darkness of the eclipsed sun reborn into the divine unity of white light.
I was blind and now I can see.John 9 xxv
Frater Stephen Goulder
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osicrucian Salons
As we enter transformative times, we here in the Province of Greater London of the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia want to assist in bringing together all people of pure heart whom seek to uplift humankind towards Light, Love and Truth and whom act with a sense of Care for Creation and all Life that we share this planet with.
In previous years we have run a number of Rosicrucian salons for our members, inspired by (but not specifically descended from) the salons of Joséphin Péladan that were held in Paris during the 1890s. In a similar fashion to those curated by Péladan, our modern-day salons have incorporated lectures, art, music, spiritual practices and other forms of engagement with the Judeo-Christian and Hermetic mysteries that lie at the core of the Rosicrucian tradition and shared by many seekers walking other mystical paths around the world.
We now aim to open up these events to others of similar aspirations, with a new series of biannual Rosicrucian salons that will be held in central London.
These events will include a diverse range of participants from different Rosi-crucian orders and other groups of a similar nature, in order that we properly celebrate our shared mission of spiritual transformation and contribute to a future that allows every being to live a life of dignity, peace and true prosperity close to the presence of God.
These pamphlets are not only an attempt for us to reach out, but also a desire to receive the wisdom and companionship of those who read them. We want to align our work and create shared goals in these difficult times. Goals that might bring about great opportunities for the betterment of all humankind.
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The original Rosicrucian manifestos were written by brethren who necessarily remained ‘sub rosa’ and operated anonymously. These transformative times require a different approach. One based on an openness and willingness to work in proximity with all who genuinely seek to uplift humanity out of spiritual and material bondage. There is no longer a need to work from the shadows when we are being called to act as Servants of Light and adhere to a broadly understood mission of healing. The time is now and we are ready to stand together with you all to achieve it.
We would like to invite all those who are reading this pamphlet to our public Rosicrucian salons. The first of these will take place in the first half of 2021 at a date and location to be decided soon.
If you would like to join us for these special events, please send an email expressing your interest to our Provincial Director of Communications, Martin Faulks: [email protected]
We will then contact everyone who has expressed interest, so that we might join together and benefit from one another’s wisdom and passion for the spiritual life in action.
May Light, Love, Peace and Truth guide us all.
